- South Africa’s funeral industry generates around R10 billion each year.
- Provided you can deal with the dead on the daily, it may not be a bad business to get into.
- It’s possible to become an undertaker and open a business on your own, but if you don’t have experience, it should be much easier to go the franchise route.
- And depending on your choice, you can pick up a full-service funeral franchise for around R1 million.
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Provided you’re comfortable dealing daily with and profiting from death, funeral homes make for good businesses in South Africa. It’s a growing industry that’s hard to tap into as an outsider but easier to streamline with a good franchisor.
In South Africa, there’s an entire ecosystem built around helping people pay for funerals, which means it’s a budgeted expense for most. And some funeral parlour businesses also sell insurance as profit-generating services to run alongside the usual burials and cremations.
It’s also an industry that’s constantly growing, and increasing its annual worth. The funeral services industry in South Africa has grown at around 12% per annum for the last few years – and it’s now an industry that generates as much as R10 billion annually.
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Running a funeral parlour isn’t for most, and it’s a tough industry to crack as an independent operator; there are many legal and logistical requirements that you must meet. And you’ll also be competing with around 70,000 undertakers. But if you want to run a franchise that benefits from one of life’s inevitabilities and streamlines many of its complex logistics, there are a few franchises that can assist.
Here’s what it will take to start a franchised funeral parlour in South Africa.
Doves
Doves Group started in Durban in 1883 and has grown to become one of South Africa’s biggest funeral brands. There are more than 160 Doves branches across all nine provinces, many franchisee-owned and run. Aside from the predictable funeral products, they offer multiple revenue streams like insurance and repatriation.
Doves franchise costs: Doves charges an initial franchise fee of R150,000 that covers things like operation manuals and initial training. The total investment required is between R950,000 and R2.9 million, depending on the outlet. This includes branding, shoplifting, equipment, furniture, and opening stock.
Martin’s
Martin’s started as a small cooling facility in Randfontein and has since expanded to become a full-service funeral operation with 165 branches around South Africa. Many of these are franchises that deal with all aspects of funerals, from cremation and repatriation to exhumation. They currently have franchise opportunities in towns and cities in North West, Limpopo, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Mpumalanga, and Northern Cape.
Martin’s franchise costs: Martin’s costs approximately R550,000 in average set-up costs. After that, franchisees must pay 7% of turnover in management fees and a minimum marketing fee of R500 per month.
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Sonja Smith
Sonja Smith is one of the newer funeral franchises in South Africa. They started in 2006 and currently have 12 branches in Johannesburg and Pretoria. Many of these are franchisee owned and run, and they’re open to new applications. They’re looking for new franchisees throughout the country, including Cape Town’s northern suburbs, Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Kimberly, among others.
Sonja Smith franchise costs: Sonja Smith charges an upfront franchise fee of around R300,000. The total investment required is between R600,000 and R1 million, which includes vehicle and modifications, deposits, equipment, decor, furniture, and showroom stock.
